Abstract
BackgroundBacterial and Archaeal communities have a complex, symbiotic role in crude oil bioremediation. Their biosurfactants and degradation enzymes have been in the spotlight, mainly due to the awareness of ecosystem pollution caused by crude oil accidents and their use. Initially, the scientific community studied the role of individual microbial species by characterizing and optimizing their biosurfactant and oil degradation genes, studying their individual distribution. However, with the advances in genomics, in particular with the use of New-Generation-Sequencing and Metagenomics, it is now possible to have a macro view of the complex pathways related to the symbiotic degradation of hydrocarbons and surfactant production. It is now possible, although more challenging, to obtain the DNA information of an entire microbial community before automatically characterizing it. By characterizing and understanding the interconnected role of microorganisms and the role of degradation and biosurfactant genes in an ecosystem, it becomes possible to develop new biotechnological approaches for bioremediation use. This paper analyzes 46 different metagenome samples, spanning 20 biomes from different geographies obtained from different research projects.ResultsA metagenomics bioinformatics pipeline, focused on the biodegradation and biosurfactant-production pathways, genes and organisms, was applied. Our main results show that: (1) surfactation and degradation are correlated events, and therefore should be studied together; (2) terrestrial biomes present more degradation genes, especially cyclic compounds, and less surfactation genes, when compared to water biomes; and (3) latitude has a significant influence on the diversity of genes involved in biodegradation and biosurfactant production. This suggests that microbiomes found near the equator are richer in genes that have a role in these processes and thus have a higher biotechnological potential.ConclusionIn this work we have focused on the biogeographical distribution of hydrocarbon degrading and biosurfactant producing genes. Our principle results can be seen as an important step forward in the application of bioremediation techniques, by considering the biostimulation, optimization or manipulation of a starting microbial consortia from the areas with higher degradation and biosurfactant producing genetic diversity.
Highlights
Bacterial and Archaeal communities have a complex, symbiotic role in crude oil bioremediation
In this work we have focused on the biogeographical distribution of hydrocarbon degrading and biosurfactant producing genes
Quality assessment From the initial dataset of 71 metagenomics samples, 24 samples were discarded by failing the quality assessment, and 46 samples from the several biomes, shown in Table 1 were used for further analysis
Summary
Bacterial and Archaeal communities have a complex, symbiotic role in crude oil bioremediation. With the advances in genomics, in particular with the use of New-GenerationSequencing and Metagenomics, it is possible to have a macro view of the complex pathways related to the symbiotic degradation of hydrocarbons and surfactant production It is possible, more challenging, to obtain the DNA information of an entire microbial community before automatically characterizing it. Studies evaluating the biogeographical influence in the diversity and/or abundance of alkane degradation and biosurfactant production genes may guide the creation of new industrial and biotechnological processes. These include bioremediation and biostimulation strategies that are important for preservation and environment planning [1, 2]. Because most studies of geographic distribution of bacteria oil-degrading genes in environments rely on the analysis of biomes that have been contaminated or enriched with crude oil, the understanding of the origin, abundance and natural role of degradation and surfactant genes on an ecosystem [3, 5, 6] has been hampered
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